Movie · 2024 · Comedy, Drama · 1h 29m · R · English
Curator score: 5.5/10 (375K ratings)
What would you ask your older self?
Overview
An 18th birthday mushroom trip brings free-spirited Elliott face-to-face with her wisecracking 39-year-old self. But when Elliott’s "old ass" starts handing out warnings about what her younger self should and shouldn't do, Elliott realizes she has to rethink everything about family, love, and what's becoming a transformative summer.
Ratings
Curator score: 5.5/10
IMDb: 6.9/10
Letterboxd: 3.53/5
Rotten Tomatoes: 90%
Metacritic: 74
TMDB: 6.8/10
Director
Megan Park
Production
Indian Paintbrush, LuckyChap Entertainment
Cast
Maisy Stella, Aubrey Plaza, Percy Hynes White, Maddie Ziegler, Kerrice Brooks, Maria Dizzia, Alain Goulem, Seth Isaac Johnson, Carter Trozzolo, Alexandria Rivera
Where to watch
Amazon Prime Video, Amazon Prime Video with Ads
Curator Review
Verdict
A warm, funny coming-of-age dramedy with a clever high-concept hook, strong emotional payoff, and a surprisingly tender view of family, identity, and first love. It’s especially appealing if you like character-driven indie comedies that balance sharp jokes with genuine feeling.
Best for
fans of bittersweet coming-of-age stories
viewers who like queer-adjacent self-discovery narratives
audiences drawn to time-bending or high-concept dramedies
people who want a heartfelt, easy-to-watch festival-style comedy
Skip if
you want a plot-heavy or twisty comedy
you dislike stoner-movie premises
you prefer very broad, joke-dense teen comedies
you’re looking for a darker or more cynical take on adulthood
Overview
My Old Ass works because it treats a goofy premise with real emotional sincerity. The time-travel-by-mushroom-trip setup is a joke on paper, but the movie uses it to explore the messiness of growing up, the fear of change, and the way family history sneaks up on you when you least expect it.
Worth noting
Megan Park keeps the tone light without sanding off the ache underneath. The film is funniest when it leans into Elliott’s bluntness and self-mythologizing, but it lands best when it lets the summer atmosphere breathe and allows the character relationships to feel lived-in rather than neatly resolved.
Bottom line
It’s not trying to be a huge statement movie, and that’s part of its charm. What it offers instead is a sincere, modern coming-of-age story with a strong emotional aftertaste, the kind that makes you text your mom, think about your younger self, and maybe forgive both of them a little more.
Top Letterboxd reviews
mia (4.5★) · 9348 likes
The Saoirse Ronan wall is too real.
jeaba (4★) · 8428 likes
the next time i do shrooms i’m summoning aubrey plaza
Lennon (0.5★) · 7205 likes
yeah yeah bisexuality is valid and all that but if you make a movie about a girl who's so sure shes a lesbian and fucks women and talks about her dreams about her future wife until she meets the Perfect Man literally named Chad im gonna have a hard time not throwing my fucking drink at the screen.
like, idk, im trying to be reasonable bc i doubt it was intended like that, but also im not sure ive ever… more
Amanda the Jedi · 6924 likes
Movies need to stop reminding me how fast time passes.
Be young and dumb.
grace (3★) · 4936 likes
the biggest gift and the greatest curse is literally the passage of time